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Planning Moments II

(May 28, 2003) -- So, in the midst of
all of that pressure to perform, how do you go about squeezing the time in for
planning? Given heroic eighteen hour days of falling behind to make up for
resource shortages, how do you get one very big task added to the work plate?
With all that you are trying to do, how can the time for planning be
acquired.

First of all, any good management trainer
will remind you that you are not paid to accomplish all of the items on your to
do list. The company has, more likely than not, given you a set of objectives to
work with. At most, this is a dozen or so major accomplishments. Meeting those
objectives is the foundation of survival. While the inbound additions to the 'to
do list' seem urgent, they are rarely more important than the large
accomplishments that are possible.

Half of the reason that a routine planning period is so
important is that the 'to do list' inevitably fills up with the wrong stuff. In
the heat of the action, it is easy to confuse the trivial pile of crap that
seems overwhelmingly urgent with the few critical things that make an enduring
difference. The most human thing imaginable is the way that we all lose sight of
what is important and end up focusing on the slings and arrows.

So, YOU STOP FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS. Just stop.

Decent planning can only be accomplished when
your mind is clear enough to think about the big picture. If you have been
running your 'behind' into the ground trying to get everything done, it may take
a while to slow down long enough to plan. You must be in the right frame of mind
to plan effectively.

And, you must have the right information at
your fingertips.

In the days preceding your planning period,
collecting information pertinent to the plan is paramount. First, you'll have to
determine whether you are doing

Personal

Departmental

Divisional, or

Enterprise Level Planning

The process is similar for each arena, the underlying data and
objectives are different. The goal of any level of the planning process is to
figure out how to anticipate the coming flow of events. By having a clear
picture of what is likely to happen, you can budget your most precious resource
effectively. All that you really have control of is your time and focus.
Planning is useful to the extent that it helps you use those two resources to
accomplish things that really matter.